The present invention relates generally to a fiber optic connector and, more particularly, to an actuated fiber optic connector.
Some fiber optic connectors are constructed in such a manner that when the mating connector halves of the connectors are interengaged, the optical fibers, or optical fiber ferrules therein, are aligned without further operations. An example of such a non-actuated connector is one in which the optical fiber ferrules are aligned by being pushed into the opposite ends of a precisely machined cylindrical guide sleeve. However, because of the close sliding fit of the ferrules in the guide sleeve, insertion forces are encountered in mating the connector halves, particularly for multi-channel connectors. Another well known means for aligning optical fiber ferrules is the use of a V-groove in which the ferrules are initially inserted with zero insertion force and thereafter are pushed into the bottom of the groove by a suitable compression plate or spring to align the optical fibers. Various forms of actuated fiber optic connectors utilizing the V-groove alignment concept are disclosed in the following U.S. patents: patent No. 3,885,859 to Dalgleish et al; patent No. 4,030,809 to Onishi et al; and patent No. 4,142,777 to Gauthier et al. The connectors disclosed in these patents require secondary operations to be performed after the mating of the connector halves in order to urge the optical fibers or optical fiber ferrules into the V-grooves.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an axially matable fiber optic connector in which the ferrules in the connector members are automatically urged into the V-groove in one of the connector members upon mating of the members, thus avoiding the necessity of performing a secondary step to actuate the connector to achieve lateral alignment of the optical fibers therein.